Kelly Tshibaka Leads In-State Fundraising Against Incumbent Murkowski

More donations from Alaska have flooded Trump-endorsed Kelly Tshibaka’s campaign than pro-impeachment and 21-year incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-AK), according to OpenSecrets.

While the incumbent has raised 85 percent of 2022 cycle donations from outside the state of Alaska, Tshibaka is winning the battle among Alaskan donors by about $20,000, a notable feat against a politician who has been in office for 21 years.

The large percentage of the money raised by Murkowski outside the state raises questions about where her interests lie. The establishment senator has voted nine times with Democrats in the last two years and has vowed to assist President Joe Biden’s agenda move forward if she is elected.

In total, Murkowski has raised $5,284,321 from out-of-state donors, which amounts to 85 percent. Just 15 percent or $929,774 has been donated from in-state contributors.

Murkowski’s outside-state contributions are from donors in metropolitan zip codes and not from rural, conservative towns.

The locations from which Murkowski’s greatest amount of donations have originated are the Washington, DC, area ($536,417), New York ($464,053), Seattle-Bellevue-Everett areas ($299,304), and the tech hub of Houston ($257,348).

It should be noted just $632,961 has been given to Murkowski from Anchorage, Alaska’s, largest city with 41 percent of the state’s population.

In contrast, Tshibaka has raised nearly 55 percent of her donations from in-state donors. Only 44.5 percent have originated from outside the state.

Tshibaka has also outraised Murkowski in Alaska by nearly $425,000. In Anchorage alone, Tshibaka has raised more than her opponent by $20,000.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the America First candidate has only raised $62,156 from donors in Washington, DC, a strong contrast to Murkowski’s large hall from K street.

Though Tshibaka has performed better with in-state contributions than the establishment candidate, Murkowski has so far outspent Tshibaka by about $7.5 million. The greatest reason Murkowski has been able to outspend the challenger is her ties with the establishment that wishes to keep her in power, such as Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY).